This invention relates generally to protective devices and systems for use with medical needles to prevent accidental and/or unauthorized needle use. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved yet relatively simple syringe and needle combination designed to permit unrestricted needle use in a normal manner and subsequently to permit easy needle withdrawal to a concealed safety position protected against accidental or unauthorized re-use.
Medical needles are widely used by the health care industry in the course of patient diagnosis and/or treatment. Such medical needles are commonly used in the context of a syringe, wherein a hollow metal needle is carried by a support hub adapted for removable mounting onto the nose end of a syringe barrel. In another form, the needle is permanently affixed by a hub or the like onto the syringe barrel. In either form, the needle includes a pointed forward end adapted for transcutaneous insertion into the body of a patient for purposes drawing patient fluids for analysis or for injecting medication or other fluids into the patient. Modern medical needles are most commonly provided in a presterilized package intended for disposal after a single use, with a removable cap of plastic or the like normally covering the needle to safeguard against accidental needle sticks prior to use. After the needle is used, the cap is desirably replaced to shield the needle which is then discarded into a suitable waste receptacle.
The handling and use of medical needles requires extreme caution to prevent accidental needle stick injuries. More specifically, considerable attention and manual dexterity are required to avoid occasional infliction of needle injuries on health care workers and other unintended persons. Moreover, post-use needle sticks expose persons other than the patient to blood-borne diseases and other organisms which might be present on a used needle. For example, it is well recognized that a variety of contagious and potentially dangerous diseases such as hepatitis, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and others can be transmitted by contact with patient body fluids on a used medical needle.
Moreover, in recent years, discarded medical needles have been the subject of unauthorized re-use by persons involved in illegal or illicit drug abuse. Prevention of such unauthorized re-use has become extremely desirable to curb the flow and use of illegal drugs, and further to prevent uncontrolled spread of communicable diseases resulting from contact with contaminated needles.
In the past, a variety of devices have been proposed to protect medical personnel against accidental contact with medical needles, and/or to prevent unauthorized needle re-use. Many of these devices have utilized relatively complex sleeve-type structures mounted about a syringe barrel and adapted for extension or retraction to respectively cover or expose a hypodermic needle. Other needle protection mechanisms have used needle guards with narrow apertures through which the needle is manipulated for use and then withdrawn to prevent re-use. In general terms, however, these prior devices have involved relatively complex mechanical components which can interfere with normal syringe use and further result in a syringe construction of undesirably increased cost. Accordingly, prior needle protection devices and systems have generally failed to acquire any significant commercial acceptance.
There exists therefore, a significant need for further improvements in devices and systems for safeguarding against accidental or unauthorized contact with a used medical needle, particularly with respect to a relatively simple and cost efficient syringe which can be used in a normal manner followed by simple needle displacement to a shielded safety position. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.